Chapter 32: My eyes are up here
A wood panel ceiling greeted Ari as he opened his eyes.
A few fixtures on the walls lit the room with a soft white light, allowing him to comfortably adjust to his new surroundings.
As he tilted his head to the right, he noticed a large dark wooden dresser with a rectangular mirror fixed on the wall above it.
He propped his back with his elbows to get a better look at the rest of the room.
A clothing cabinet stood on the opposite end of the dresser. It appeared to be made from a similar dark wood.
The lingering traces of perfume wafted in the air. As though through repeated use, the scent became part of the room's atmosphere.
The room had a feminine feel to it.
Clearly, this was a very neat and spacious bedroom. However, he didn't know whose it was, nor how he got there.
The last thing he remembered was talking to Ferine near The Great Malen-Soato.
The fog of uncertainty cleared the more he thought about the events of the past, allowing his memories to return, though somewhat scrambled.
'Shit, my body!'
Ari sat up immediately and began inspecting his body.
He remembered that he had been absorbed by The Great Malen-Soato and turned into wood.
Ari patted his chest in relief, but was surprised to discover that he was naked, covered only by a thin white bed sheet.
‘Where is my armour?’
He checked both sides of the bed but did not find his armour, nor any clothing.
‘What the hell happened after?’
Suddenly, the hazy image of a woman with silver hair flashed in his mind.
‘That woman!’
Ari’s heart raced when a certain thought crossed his mind.
‘But, that doesn’t make any sense. Why would she be here? And as a giant tree of all things...’
Despite the implausibility, Ari couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity.
But that only made things more confusing.
He recalled being brought back to the Inner Garden moments after seeing the side of her face; however, Ari had the vague sense that his encounter with the silver-haired woman lasted longer than he remembered.
“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He wondered why the silver-haired woman messed with his memories of their interaction, only to ask for help in a more invasive and painful manner later.
‘That’s just like her...’
He sighed. “I didn’t even get the chance to ask about the core.”
‘Wait, is that still possible?’
The situation was vastly different from the protagonist’s encounter with The Great Malen-Soato.
At that time, the protagonist was granted power to avenge the Malen Forest and it’s inhabitants.
As for Ari, his task is to prevent the disaster from happening.
Ari suspected that perhaps the core can only be given under certain circumstances, and given his status as a Modifier, The Great Malen-Soato may feel that he doesn’t need the same assistance.
‘She’ll reward me though, right?’
Ari’s mind drifted as he thought of potential rewards, many of which involved the Elves of the Soato tribe.
‘Right, the Elven Village... That must be where I am right now.’
He glanced around the room again, the images of a destroyed Malen Forest overlapping with his current view.
He shook his head.
Ari now had a clue as to what caused the Malen Forest disaster.
‘An Orc invasion... But, there has to be more to it than that, right?’
The scale and magnitude of his task was overwhelming; on par with Hell Difficulty on the middle floors of the tower.
But despite that, Ari felt that it did not explain how The Great Malen-Soato ended up in that state, at least not entirely.
He decided to put those thoughts on hold for the moment, then got off the bed and approached the mirror.
His body looked the same as before, is what he thought initially. But, as he continued his inspection, he noticed subtle changes to the size and definition of his physique.
‘What happened?’
‘Display profile.’
[Name: Ari Haynes]
[Age: 19]
[Synchronised Form: Human-Transcender]
[Potential: Unknown]
[Rank: F – First Class]
[Ascension Points: 100]
[Coins: 0]
[Attributes]
[Descendant Of Aphrodite: EX-Grade]
[God Of Combat: EX-Grade]
[Blessing]
[Will Of The Great Malen-Soato]
[Ascension Paths]
[Slayer]
[Conversion Contract]
[Unique Ability: Actualisation LV-1]
[Stats]
[Constitution: LV-45]
[Strength: LV-46]
[Mana Capacity: LV-46]
[Agility: LV-45]
[Magic Power: LV-45]
[Stamina: LV-45]
‘Isn’t this?’
Ari hurriedly selected the new Blessing tab.
[Will Of The Great Malen-Soato: 2x Multiplier To All Stat Increases]
[First Time Activation Bonus: +20 levels To All Stats]
‘So I didn’t leave empty handed after all!’
The gift Ari received was comparable to the protagonist at the time.
He couldn’t control his excitement and ended up laughing heartily.
‘Thanks to this boost I’ve reached F-Rank: First Class sooner than expected.'
'Still got a long way to go, but at least leveling up should much be easier now.'
'Fifteen levels per Ascension Class, not a bad as I thought...'
As Ari studied his profile, the door opened wildly.
Ferine entered the room with widened eyes.
"You are awake!" she exclaimed, then ran towards him.
Before he could say anything, she tightly embraced him, pressing her well-endowed chest against his.
“I’m so relieved,” she said in a soft voice.
The sensation of her exceptionally voluptuous figure against his naked body caused his mind to drift.
She tightened her embrace. “Truly.”
The atmosphere got warm and fuzzy, but his manhood had ideas of its own.
To prevent the situation from turning awkward, he decided to tease the adorable Elf.
Ari leaned in and whispered into Ferine's ear. “If you keep squeezing me like this, my blood flow will become…erratic, we might end up on the floor with you on top of me.”
She stepped back. “I-I apologise, that wasn’t my intention.”
Ari chuckled. “Don’t worry about it.”
She took a deep breath to calm herself.
“How are you feeling, your body, I mean?”
“I’m feeling good, no, great actually.”
“I am relieved to hear that.”
During this exchange, Ferine’s eyes rarely met his.
Ari didn’t mind, of course, but seeing the curiosity and desire in her gaze made it difficult to control the corners of his lips.
“Ferine.”
“Yes?”
“My eyes are up here.”
“What?”
He grinned.
Her face flushed instantly. “I didn’t mean to-”
Ari laughed. “Is this your first time seeing a naked man?”
She shook her head. “But never this…” she replied. “And it’s different when you're awake.”
‘Oh? She watched me while I slept?’
“Are you a pervert, Ferine?”
“N-no! Please don’t misunderstand, I only-.”
“That’s a shame, I thought we had something in common.”
Her eyes widened.
She closed the gap between them with a single step and placed her hands on his chest.
“I don’t think that I am a pervert, but…I like doing indecent things.”
Ari grinned and reached for her chin. “Looks like we have something in common after all.”